Evan McKenzie on the rise of private urban governance and the law of homeowner and condominium associations. Visit evanmckenzie.wikispaces.com for my published articles and services.

Friday, July 30, 2010

Congratulations to Marjorie Murray and the Center for California Homeowner Association Law!

Evan: we want to share this announcement with you and with the readers. We look forward to seeing it posted on your blog and your website! We see small claims court and unbundled legal services as crucial tools for achieving justice for homeowners in the courts.

Please do visit our website: we have LOTS of new material on it – including a video of our small claims court workshop.

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The Center for California Homeowner Association Law (CCHAL) announced today that it has been nominated for the Louis M. Brown award given annually by the American Bar Association.

This national award honors advocates across the country, whose innovative programs improve access to legal services for the working poor and for moderate income people, that is: people who may not qualify for legal aid or pro bono legal services, yet do not have sufficient resources to pay for full-service attorneys.

Announcing the nominees, the Bar Association said, “The sole unifying element of the Brown Award nominees is their dedication to improving access to legal services for those who cannot otherwise afford it and thereby advancing access to justice for all.”

The Center has campaigned for better access to justice by making it possible for homeowners to bring certain issues into small claims court and for training homeowners in small claims court procedures. The Center is also training attorneys to provide “unbundled” or limited scope services. "Limited scope" holds promise as a more affordable way to deliver legal services to the working poor, to seniors, and to others of modest means.

A California superior court judge with in-depth knowledge of the Center’s work, nominated CCHAL for this national award.

Some of the small claims suits filed by homeowners are on the CCHAL website. [Keyword: small claims.] The CCHAL training video on small claims is also on the website. Trainers are two attorneys who are experts in preparing small claims suits. A DVD on preparing a small claims action is also available by mail from CCHAL.

4 comments:

We in the CAI have worked hard to make sure that the rights of homeowners are balanced with the needs of the corporate collective. Now this so-called "Center for California Homeowner Association Law" threatens to upset that balance.

Not only has this group misappropriated the phrase "Homeowner Association Law" (something we should have a monopoly on), but by providing legal services to delinquent homeowners, they jeopardize the property values of HOA members who take pride in following the rules and paying their assessments on time.

Homeowners in HOA communities are already represented by the volunteer board of directors, professional property management companies, and CAI-affiliated law firms. This triumvirate colludes together to resolve disputes on behalf of all homeowners, not just the trouble-making childish delinquents who hate America. If a homeowner has a concern or dispute, it should be resolved within the community. There is no need for an outside group of attorneys, or even a court of law, to disrupt the Sense of Community (™) that we have worked so hard to nurture.

In addition to being a waste of time and effort, such services for delinquent rule-breaking homeowners are also a waste of money. Homeowners in HOA communities are already paying for the legal services of the CAI-affiliated attorneys retained by the board of directors to represent them. This is regardless of their income levels and ability to pay.

It is a sad commentary that, like spoiled rotten children, some malcontents don't appreciate all that we have done for them. Therefore, we will be working on better methods of training homeowners to live in community associations.

Thank you for that contribution, comrade. The people's elected representatives must gather up these malcontents and send them to re-education camps where they can learn to abandon their destructive bourgeois individualism and see the importance of being assimilated into the Borg Collective Hive-Mind.

"It is a sad commentary that, like spoiled rotten children, some malcontents don't appreciate all that we have done for them. Therefore, we will be working on better methods of training homeowners to live in community associations." What is really sad is how the industry will turn the tables, file fraudulent lawsuits, terrorize families, plant "credentialed professionals," within groups, I believe, to destroy lives and steal homes. In many locales, I think they just don't want to make money legitimately, so they did/do conspire to seek the most vulnerable, devastate, destroy and steal. Who are the 'spoiled rotten children" who could benefit in a real education in non profit management? Actually, these individuals need more than an education in non profit management. They need human relations training, behavior training, non discrimination training, zero -harassment of homeowners training and life skills training...In reality, many are simply just too sociopathic and narcissistic to realize this means THEM!

CAI always seems to write in circles. Their first sentence is, "We in the CAI have worked hard to make sure that the rights of homeowners are balanced with the needs of the corporate collective."

The CAI code word is "balanced". Who decides the correct balance? Owners Associations should govern with the consent of the owners. Hence, the owners should define the balance. When CAI defines balance, it is in favor of the Association and against the owner.

About Me

I am a professor of political science at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and an adjunct professor at The John Marshall Law School in Chicago. Nothing contained in this blog represents the opinions of UIC or John Marshall, and nothing you see here is legal advice. You can reach me at ecmlaw@gmail.com